The Impossibles - an AU adventure
by seagurl3
Summary: Percy was your average kid. He flunked math, he complained about homework, he rode skateboards all over the place. But, unlike most, Percy had to live his life to the fullest. He did things no one his age would do-like jump off a cliff in Hawaii, or got a tattoo. And, above all, he had his motorcycle and adoptive family. Well... until that fateful night with the girl in silver.
1. Chapter 1

Hello.

My name is Percy Jackson and I'm supposed to be dead.

You see, every human to ever live is born with a date on their left wrist. This is the date they die.

The date gives no indication to how or why you die. All it does is give you the Month, Day, Year, and Time of Death.

Except for me.

Maybe I should start at the beginning...


	2. Chapter 2

It was summer break. I just turned 17, I should be living a life without fear, going to parties, getting drunk, sleeping around and complaining about school starting in a couple of weeks.

Well, maybe if it weren't for my death date.

 **08-18-17, 23:46.**

That day was today.

Today is my birthday.

Lucky me, right?

It all started with a bucket of ice water being dumped on my head.

My older 'cousin' stood over me, a wild grin on her face.

"Rise and shine Kelp Head. Today's your last day on this planet, and we need to live it to our fullest."

"Go away, Thalia." I moan, rolling over onto my side. I was soaking wet but I refused to give into my cousins tactics.

"Imma drag your ass right out of this bed if you don't get up."

"If you do, I'll be a pain in the ass as well." I snapped back, burying my face deeper into my pillow.

"Jaaaason, come get your boyfriend's ass outta bed!"

"Perce is not my boyfriend, and let the poor guy sleep in for god's sakes." The masculine voice of my other 'cousin' states from another room.

My whole life I've lived the adopted life. My first family, the Jacksons, had taken me in for 14 years of my life (before both of them died), and their cousins, the Graces, decided to adopt me.

For 3 years I've been living with Thalia, who is 23, and Jason, who is 19.

Today was my last day with either of them. Like I said before, lucky me.

Thalia huffed. "Brothers. Percy, get your ass up. We're having blue waffles."

"Give me five minutes and I'll be ready." I rolled out of bed and landed on my feet, instantly gliding over to the dresser. Thalia snickered, leaving the room to go back to the bathroom to 'freshen up'.

Just as I promised, I was dressed and ready to start my day. With a fresh swatch of make-up over my dark 'tattoo', I slipped down onto a stool at the breakfast just as Jason turned around.

"Well hello there, sunshine. It's about damn time."

"Oh shut up, Grace. You're worse."

Jason smirked, slipping off his 'kiss the cook apron'. "I've never missed a birthday, Perce."

"Great. Can I have an order of a lecture with the side of blue waffles and eggs?"

Jason raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? And the tip?"

I leaned over the bar, playfully batting my eyelashes. In my best feminine voice, I said, "A kiss from your sweetheart, Piper."

"For the millionth time, Piper and I are just friends."

"Yeah, friends with benefits." Thalia scoffed, walking into the kitchen.

"Pinecone Face has arisen from the showers, fresh as a daisy!"

"Go screw yourself to a wall." She flipped me off, plopping down across from me. With her pink maternity shirt, blue jeans, and punked leather jacket, most people wouldn't take her seriously. But even 8 months pregnant, she still had a look that would make the Russian Mob second guess themselves. Her electric blue eyes matched lightning, her blonde hair was always dyed black and spiked with hair gel, her freckles dotted her face like in inverse night sky. She kinda reminded me of a punk huntress, since she always had a bow'n arrow and a knife on her at all times. Her death date was on her left wrist, since she was left hand dominate, and it glittered with a nice healthy **01-02-99**. But despite her appearance, she was actually a kindergarten teacher. Strange, I know.

Her brother was the exact opposite. He kept his blonde hair neatly cropped and well groomed, his eyes were softer - more like a sky blue then a lightning blue - and he had no freckles. He had a whiter completion than Thalia's Mediterranean toned skin. He was tall, a foot taller than Thalia '5 foot 2 and a quarter inch' Grace. He had a tattoo on his right forearm that read SPQR with an eagle surrounded with a laurel wreath made of jet-black ink. 12 lines were barcoded right underneath it to signify 12 months as a bounty hunter. His death date glittered right under it - **07-16-102**

"Thalia, play nice. You wouldn't tell your students that, would you?"

"No, you'd tell your bounties that, though." Thalia rolled her eyes. "Now, can I please have that mountain of pancakes behind you. I am starving."

Jason rolled his eyes, passing the enormous plate of fluffy blue pancakes. He slipped me a plate of blue waffles and over-medium eggs. "How you feelin', birthday boy?"

He leaned over the counter and inspected me, like I was some sort prize he was thinking about taking.

I shrugged. "The usual."

"Don't lie to me, Percy." Jason frowned. "You die today, most people feel dread or sorrow."

I sighed. "Jason, I'm fine. It's not like anything I do is going to change my death date."

Jason's eyes grew cold. "Perseus…."

I shook my head. "I'm fine."

"Percy, I swear to God if you decide to do drugs-"

I choked on my orange juice. "I- what? Ew, no, are you crazy?!"

Jason cracked a smile. "Gotcha."

"You are an asshole, you know that?" I poured my contaminated juice on his head, watching the sickly yellow liquid run down his face. Thalia started laughing.

"I told ya he'd do that. Pay up, little brother."

Jason scowled, fishing out a 20 dollar bill and slipping it over to his sister. "I'm going to go take a shower so Neeks isn't gonna tase me for smelling like Florida."

"Where is your sense of adventure, Grace," I smirked. "Not willing to smell like Tropicana?"

"Screw you, Jackson."

"Happily." I winked, pulling my 'Piper' voice. Jason growls softly, flipping me the bird before disappearing behind the wall, towards the bathroom.

Thalia smirked. "My God, Percy. You drive Jason further up the walls than Piper does."

"It's a special gift of mine." I bowed lightly. She fell silent, flipping through a magazine. She landed on a page called 'top 20 cutest baby names of 2016!'

"You two still haven't decided?" I lowered my voice, scooting closer.

Thalia shook her head. "Luke insists that I choose the name, but… I don't know if I can do this, Perce. I mean, dealing with 20 kindergarteners is one thing… raising a child is another."

"Thalia, you practically raised me."

"That's different." She frowned. "You were closer to my age."

I wrapped my arm around her. "Listen. You are the most patient when it comes to children. After the incident of '09, I highly doubt you'd have any trouble raising a child."

She looked up at me with her black lined eyes. "You think so?"

"I know so." I smiled. "So… have any ideas?"

Thalia thought for a moment. "Perce… I think you should name her."

The words hit me like a truck. "Me?"

Thalia punched my shoulder. "No, the coffee marker." Her voice dripped with sarcasm. "Of course I mean you!"

I felt like I just went on a rollercoaster ride, my world still spinning, with my feet not knowing where to go.

"I…"

"Well? You haven't got all day." Thalia said, twisting in her chair so she faced me.

I took a deep breath and said the first name that came to mind: "Annabeth."

She tilted her head. "Annabeth Grace?"

"You're married, Thals. It would be Chase, not Grace. Name her 'Annabeth Diana Chase.'"

She bit her lip, her eyes flickering over my expression. Then she smiled.

"I like it."

I smiled back. "Well, go and tell Luke, see if he'd like it."

She nodded. "Of course he will, you little brat." But she got up anyways, waddling to her room to go call her husband, who was deployed overseas.

And then I was alone.

I looked down at my waffles, my stomach doing flips. I knew I hungry, I just didn't feel like eating. Slowly, I picked up the waffle and stuffed it in the trash, carefully layering other items over it so Jason wouldn't know i threw it out. Silently, I shuffled back to my room and closed the door.

I went straight to the computer, pulling it open and logging in. As the desktop loaded, I washed my hands in the bathroom connected to my room.

A small ding echoed out of the speakers and I turned to look at my computer. A blue message bubble was lit up with a red marker on the corner of my screen. Smiling, I made my way back to the desk and slipped down in front of my computer.

 _PipsyLove: Sup Loser?_

I rolled my eyes, typing up my reply

 _BlueEverything: Nothing much, just enjoying my last day on Earth. You?_

 _PipsyLove: I'm trying to convince Nico that Zoë is TOTALLY into him_

I snorted, shaking my head.

 _BlueEverything: If Zo ever found out…._

 _PipsyLove: I know, she'd have my head on a silver platter at the end of the day. Still fun_

A few moments passed.

 _PipsyLove: You had that dream again, didn't you?_

I bit my lip and typed lightly on the desk.

 _BlueEverything: It keeps happening the same way. Bright lights, the sound of glass shattering, the darkness_

 _PipsyLove: Percy, are you sure it's not PTSD from the crash that killed your mom when you were a baby?_

I scowled.

 _BlueEverything: That has nothing to do with this dream. This one, it was different. This one had a girl in it_

 _PipsyLove: Wait, as in a crush or?_

 _BlueEverything: I've never seen her before in my life. She was, like, 10 years old with long auburn hair and silver eyes. I would remember a 10 year old with silver eyes_

 _PipsyLove: Did she tell you anything? Like, how you're gonna die? I've heard that some people dream of their death weeks before it happens. Maybe that's waht's happening_

I shook my head, then remembered she couldn't see me.

 _BlueEverything: She told me that 'We shall meet soon'. Then..._

 _PipsyLove: Then what?!_

 _PipsyLove: Tell me!_

 _PipsyLove: Dude I stfg if you don't tell me in 5 seconds..._

 _BlueEverything: Then Thals poured a bucket of ice water on my head._

 _PipsyLove: Omg_

 _PipsyLove: Perce, don't leave me on a cliff hanger liek that!_

 _PipsyLove: Dude, what if that's your killer?!_

 _BlueEverything: A 10 year old girl is going to kill me? Haha very funny Pipes. Highly doubt it._

 _PipsyLove: Could happen_

 _PipsyLove: Hey, Neeks is trying to kill me, TTYL ;*_

And with that, The message bubble popped and disappeared, leaving me alone.


	3. Chapter 3

**Heh... how long has it been?**

 **Um... *sweats* what do you mean it's been two months?**

 **Hahahahaha what.**

 **Okay, I'm sorry, I hit a fork in the story and i had 50 different combinations to do this, but everyone give a round of applause to _kcwashington_ , who helped me sort out the writing issue I had. Without 'er help, I never would have finished this **

**On with the well overdue but well deserved chapter!**

 **(btw I had to study german for, like, 2 years and one thing I learned is 'Er' means man, but 'er can also be a shortened version of her so I use it as a gender neutral term.)**

* * *

I watched the scene unfold before me like a disastrous earthquake.

Piper had Zoë in a headlock while Zoë had a grip on Silena's braids. Silena was leaning backwards, trying to pry Zoë off of her braids. Leo was throwing popcorn into Piper's hair, leaving greasy butter-marks in her braids. Charlie was trying to take the bucket of popcorn away from his little brother, and Nico kept swatting Charlie's hand away. Bianca was in the corner with her boyfriend, watching with horror in her eyes while Will filmed the whole thing.

Then Jason walked in.

Everything went still and silent.

"What in the name of the Lord is going on here?"

His voice shook through the room like a wave. Slowly, Zoë let go of Silena, who took a step back. Piper released Zoë, letting her fall to the floor.

"Jacey… Didn't see you there…. Um, I'll just-" Piper took a step backwards.

"No." Jason stated firmly. "No one is moving until they tell me what happened."

There was a moment of silence, like the calm before a storm. Thalia leaned over and whispered in my ear. "10 bucks says Jace goes all Code 8 on everyone."

I smirked. "Naw, he'll go with a Code 4."

Thalia shook her head, and went to say something.

Instantly, 12 voices roared to life.

"Well Zoë was…"

"Piper wouldn't…"

"Leo kept…"

"Then Neeks…"

"Well Rey…"

"Charlie and Silena…"

"The popcorn burned…"

"Will said…"

"And then…"

" _SILENCE_!"

Everyone stopped. Jason's face was bright red.

Then, he stalked towards Will. The blonde's eyes widened and he held out his phone. Jason snatched it and watched silently, his face growing redder by the second.

Everyone held their breath. A minute passed. Then two.

Jason finally put down the phone, his body shaking slightly.

"Look Jacey, I can explain."

Jason broke down laughing. He doubled over, almost dropping Will's phone.

Thalia scowled and slipped 10 dollars onto my lap. The rest of the room stayed in a silent shock as Jason tried to catch his breath.

"Oh dear lord, give me the strength to save this wild family." He muttered, trying to pull a straight face. "What in God's name gave one of you the idea to plaster pink stickers all over Zoë's bike?!"

The room stayed silent.

"More importantly, who did it?"

Everyone shuffled nervously. Zoë stepped forward.

"It obviously had to be Piper. Only she'd be crazy enough to pull a trick like this!"

"Oh my god, Zo, I told you. I didn't do it!"

"Liar!"

Piper lunged at Zoë again, who screeched as she was sent sprawling to the floor. Silena gasped and tried to grab Piper, who brought her down onto Zoë.

"Oh my god!" Silena squeaked as her shirt ripped loudly. "That was my favourite!"

"Serves you right!" Zoë tried to squirm up, only to be pushed back down by Piper. Silena grabbed Piper by her braid, yanking her to the left. Piper went scattering across the floor, and Silena tried to get back up.

"Girls…" Jason said, an amused smirk on his face.

Piper pulled Silena's heel, effectively breaking it. Silena gasped, collapsing back on a red-faced Zoë

"Oh, you just did not do that!"

"Honey, I just did."

Silena yelled with frustration, twisting her body and landing a kick to Piper's jaw. Zoë pushed Silena off of her while she was unbalanced, scrambling to get up.

"Oh no you don't!" Piper growled, lunging at the girl in silver like a cat. Zoë shrieked as she was sent toppling over again.

"Girls!"

Jason brought his fist down on the coffee table.

With Zoë effectively pinned to the ground underneath Piper, the two girls looked up at their boss. Silena sat up, dazed, dusting off her arm.

"Percy did it."

The three girls blinked in confusion before turning to face me.

"Wait, you…"

I smiled innocently. "Go big or go home, right?"

Zoë frowned. "You, of all people, put pink stickers on MY bike."

"Had you looked closer, you would have realised they were magnets. Paper thin magnets." I smirked.

Zoë narrowed her eyes. "You little sh-"

"Hey hey hey, let's not get mad. It' the boy's last day here. Let him live a little." Nico said, leaning against support beam.

Zoë rolled her eyes. "Fine. But if anyone brings this up-"

"Don't worry, Zozo. We won't." Leo teased, which earned him a broken-heel bit to the face.

"Ow, what the hell is that made of?!"

"Your broken hopes and dreams." Zoë hissed at him. Leo rolled his eyes, but backed away from her.

In case you already haven't figured it out, I was with the 'Bounty Group', aka my family.

You see, the Jackson family owned the world's largest legal bounty hunter company called 'Royshan Group.' I always thought they were trying to say 'Russian' while drunk, because that was what it sounded like, but no.

Basically they hire people who you'd never expect to be bounty hunters. Take Leo, for instance. The dude was scrawny, easily 20 pounds underweight, with the mischievous look of an arsonist. He specialises in high-mechanical traps and complex bombs made out of paper clips and toothpaste.

Or Silena. The daughter of president Travis Beauregard, and the fashion queen of the world. With a strange knowledge of exotic torture skills… I mean, information retrieving skills.

Not convinced yet? Look over at Hazel. The girl's my age with the sweetest gold eyes, innocent face, and very very petite in size. She can also scale 30-story buildings in a blink of an eye, shot two guns at the same time with deadly accuracy, and prefers precious metals to iron and steel.

But some of them look like they were made for the job.

Case in point: Zoë Nightshade. The girl looked and played the part perfectly. Even for a 19 year old, she was deadly. I mean, all of them are, but you take one look at her and you can see she is powerful. Her father was the very reason she joined. She spent most of her childhood as the daughter of a Russian Mobber nicknamed 'Atlas'. She hated her dad with a passion, so when my stepfather found her, she gladly helped secure her dad in jail.

Well, to make it easier for you, I'll break down who is on what list: The 'cinnamon roll that can kill you' or the 'looks that can kill you'.

 **Cinnamon rolls:**

Leo Valdez

Hazel Levesque

Frank Zhang

Silena Beauregard

Piper McLean

Will Solace

Bianca di Angelo

 **Looks that Kill:**

Jason Grace

Reyna Ramirez-Arellano

Nico di Angelo

Clarisse la Rue

Zoë Nightshade

And Charles Beckendorf

Lovely list, innit?

There use to be more, but they all hit their 'expiration' dates, aka death dates.

The HQ wasn't much - it was styled like a rustic Starbucks collided with a 80's pop disco cave. The walls were musty but covered in brightly coloured items that were green apple, tantalus lemon yellow, sour blue raspberry, and 'cherry blow-out'. Don't ask. The furniture was covered with sequined blankets and pillows, and the coffee maker was splattered with 'Great Job' stickers.

But there was an older feel to it - like the old wooden tables and Native American artifacts that dotted to room. Or the revolutionary war cannon in the corner (that I may or may not have used to explode my 5th grade field trip bus). There were weapons too - a gladius here, a dagger there. A few bows, a hunting knife, and a few rustically designed decoy bombs.

The whole place was ironic.

And I loved it.

Hazel yawned, stretching out on the couch. "God, today is really that day. Man, it seems like yesterday you were 5 years old."

"Hazel, you're slightly younger than me."

"Am not!"

I rolled my eyes, leaning back against the wall. The tripod I was sitting on wobbled a little in protest, threatening to fall apart under my weight. "You were born in December, 2000. I was born August 2000. Thus, for now, I am older."

"Screw you too, Persasseus."

I frowned. "Persasseus?"

"Yeah, it's-"

"Oh my god, seriously you two?" Clarisse pinched the bridge of her nose. "So immature."

"Like you're any more mature." I retorted, then went back to bickering with Hazel.

Jason watched me from afar, keeping a close eye on my body.

I remembered the talk with him last month, right after he had hunted down the world famous 'Sacred Doe', who what been terrorising the West Coast for months.

"Natural deaths are something we all want," He said as he sharpened a spear. "It's unfortunate how many people want to 'go big or go home'. Just, stay home and die there, kay?"

Not something you'd expect to hear from your adoptive 'parent', but then again when you expire on your 17th birthday, you get use to it.

But something nagged me in the back of my mind. That dream… It calls me.

Like… that little girl, the silvered eyed one, was somehow linked to my death.

Death dates are permanent. They always are, but how you die is determined by how you live your life.

You can choose how you want to die - hell, we have entire companies built around that 'perfect death' idea.

But why would I want to die on rose petals with 10 people singing 'Amazing Grace'?

I had to find that girl.

ȣ

Later on that day, I was back home.

I glanced at the clock beside my bed, shortly after collapsing from exhaustion.

 **21:25**

I tried to do the mental math.

"Fuck it, I have about 2 hours." I decided after my brain crashed.

I collapsed back onto my pillow, face first. My back burned from the fresh tattoo Nico _insisted_ I get.

An outline of a wolf howling at a blue moon with 'Viva La Fuck You' calligraphed into my skin like water.

It hurt but it was worth it.

Jason gently knocked on my door. I looked up at his with blurry eyes.

"You okay?" He whispered, walking in. I frowned.

"Tattoos hurt, but I'll die happy."

He smiled a little, sitting down next to me.

"2 hours. What do you want your last meal to be?"

I frowned. "Seriously? I'm not a prisoner in some weird alternative universe tv shows where they're like 'What if we don't know our death dates?'. Blue waffles"

He smiled. "Blue waffles it is."

Jason got up, dusted off his shirt, and left the room.

Taking a deep breath, I waited until I heard the pantry door close and got out of bed, pulling on my jacket and boots. I slipped out a sheet of paper, jotting down a quick apology, and slipped silently out of the window.

The air was cool and damp, although it was still summer and it should have been 80 out. I broke into a light jog, going down a few miles to the exterior garage Jason insists on having.

Pulling the door up to open it, I slipped inside and worked quietly.

With a few tries, I unlocked Thalia's old motorcycle from it's chainy prison.

I raised my head from my work just long enough to think.

"Piper… She needs to know."

I pulled over to a desk, pulling out an old computer no one uses.

A few moments later, the familiar blue light of the chatroom glowed in my face.

 _BlueEverything: You still up?_

I tapped impatiently on the desk, glancing around the garage. A ding echoed and I turned back around.

 _PipsyLove: WTF Jackson, who even is up this early?_

"Never change," I muttered.

 _BlueEverything: I know I promised Jason and all…_

 _PipsyLove: ARE YOU CRAZY?!_

I winced.

 _BlueEverything: Yes, I am. This girl, I need to figure out who she is._

 _PipsyLove: DON'T YOU DARE MISTER, GO BACK TO SLEEP RIGHT NOW_

 _BlueEverything: Too late, I'm taking Thal's bike. Also, I'm shutting the chat down. Jason can't know that you knew, no matter how much it hurts him._

 _BlueEverything: I love you Pipsy. You know I have. Do me a favour and ask Jason out, he likes you back. Don't change, and most importantly, don't you ever forget me._

 _PipsyLove: Percy Please…_

 _BlueEverything: Don't beat yourself up either. Who knows, that girl could become a Royshan one day. Goodbye Pipsy_

I hit enter, plugged in the virus drive, and the chat burned away forever.

Swallowing the lump i my throat, I closed the computer and climbed on the bike, turning it on.

"Goodbye."

I pulled out of the garage and sped off into the night, the automatic door shutting itself.

ȣ

The trees zipped by as I zoomed through the local mountain range.

My gut churned as I watched the world darken and blur all around me, the only vision being the cone of harsh white light pooling in front of the Harley.

I imagined that, by now, Jason had discovered that I had snuck out and was going delirious right now.

Something silver jumped through my headlight, dashing off down a dirt road to my left.

I braked, slowing down as fast as I could, made a u turn, and followed it.

The bike bounced as I followed the silver object up and down the side road, nearly crashing a few times.

My eyes followed the object, trying to figure out what it was.

I didn't notice the time.

I pursued the shiny thing, sailing down a smoother road at 60 miles an hour, leaning forward as I started to catch up to it.

In a blink of an eye, the thing stopped.

In a blink of an eye, traveling 88 feet per second, I stared at a silver doe with golden antlers atop its head, wide auburn eyes watching me. Waiting.

Then my bike hit a rock and I sailed off the cliff.

The next moment, I was on my back, my face facing the moon.

Iron filled my mouth, red pooling around me as I stared at the ball of white light.

A minute ticked by as I felt the life being drained out of me. Slowly, I tilted my head and looked at my wrist watch

 **23:45:57**

 **23:45:58**

 **23:45:59**

I looked back up at the moon.

As my wrist watch beeped at exactly **23:46:00** , I drifted off into darkness.

And the world went completely still.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Wake up child**_

 _ **You need to wake up**_

 _ **They need you**_

My eyes fluttered open, the blue sky above me as clear as can be.

I sat up, snow rolling off my chest and onto my lap, flurries dancing around my face.

For a moment, I couldn't remember anything. All I could see was white around me, trees towering above covered in soft snow, the sky clear and bright above my head.

Then the memories flashed. That deer, with the golden antlers and auburn eyes. The motorcycle, the blue light of Piper and my secret chatroom we invented. The blue waffles I requested that I never ate, the pain of a brand new tattoo.

Silver eyes watched me from a tree branch. I looked up at a girl barely 10 years of age, her auburn hair flowing well past the branch and dangling in mid air. She wore a simple white draped dress with a silver string tied around her waist, silver gladiator type shoes complementing her cinnamony-brown skin. In her left hand she held the metal of a silver archer bow against the hard wood of an evergreen. On her back was a quiver of, you guessed it, silver. The leather strap was as white as her dress and the snow around her, not offering much contrast to it's environment. The only real contrast was the long streak of pure gold hair that followed her right side.

I opened my mouth to say something, then blinked.

And she was gone.

The cold set in, my body flinching from the suddenness.

I got up and climbed over to the tree the girl was sitting at, climbing up to the branch.

Sitting there was a silver moon brooch, studded with diamonds and zirconias. I gingerly picked it up, looking up at the sky.

"How did you…" I paused, before swallowing and climbing back down. I didn't know where I was, but I started walking.

* * *

Before long, I came across something black in the snow. I was already cold, shivering in my thin shirt, and desperate for shelter of any kind.

The closer I got, the more the details of the black thing confused me. A stick-like figure was halfway buried in snow, shiny black stopped and gave way to a matte, less saturated black. Something silver was stuck to the black, reflecting the sun into my eyes.

My eyes wandered up a little and I stopped dead in my tracks.

"No way… That's not…"

My voice died in my throat and I ran forward.

My fingers brushed against rubber, and my eyes scanned the label: Harley Davidson Motorcycles

"How did you survive this?" I whispered, tugging Thalia's bike from out of it's half-snow grave.

Sure enough, there wasn't a single scratch, dent, bump, or crack on the motorcycle. The tires were perfectly inflated, the keys dangling aimlessly on the metal backing.

I grabbed the key and started the bike. It purred to life, the lights flashing across the front.

"A full tank of what now?" My eyes widened, and I nearly dropped the bike. An undamaged bike was one thing, but I was on less than a quarter of a gallon when I crashed, there was no way someone could come into the words and refill a tank.

Which brought me to my final question - why wasn't I dead?

I check, multiple times: I pinched, hit, slapped, stomped, swatted, smashed, and bit myself, but the pain was real enough to prove that I was, indeed, alive.

My death date glittered in the light above, the same as usual. But I had watched that clock hit my death time, so how was I here?

I turned the bike off and carefully started to nudge it forward in the snow. It's a lot harder than it sounds, since you're dealing with complicated machinery.

What felt like an eternity later, my foot hit pavement and I looked up. A country road, it seemed like, a green sign facing my 9 o'clock.

I squinted at it, barely being able to read it from this far away.

"Rome Welcome Centre, 13 miles" I breathed. "How F-"

A car zoomed by, heading to Rome. I head the faint cursing of someone inside the car as it went 20 miles too fast down the hill.

I pulled the bike to a tree and propped it up, unlocking the back and pulling out proper gear that somehow ended up in there. The helmet fit snugly, the jacket was thick and warm, the boots went all the way up to my knees. I found gloves too, thin around the fingers and thick around the palms.

Before I knew it, I was back on the road, sunglasses dawned on my face and wind swirling around me.

* * *

The first place I went was the library.

I didn't know why, but it seemed to be my gut instinct. I tugged my helmet off and ran inside, heading to the first shelf I could see.

Someone glared at me for making so much movement, but I just ignored them and flipped through books.

One hour passed.

The two.

I found myself in the Greek Mythology section with five booked opened around me.

All of them were opened to a certain goddess' section; Artemis the huntress of the moon.

Something tugged at me. None of the pictures looked the same - one what a tall white girl with blonde hair in one, another was a child with black hair and white skin, a third one was another white woman flying with a bow and a golden shawl around her hair.

But all of them had one thing that made my gut turn - they all had piercing grey-silver eyes, like the moon's glow.

But the gods weren't real, they were just a made up story of creatures that had no expiration date. They were immortals to explain why we needed our deaths, why the earth did stuff, why we weren't alone.

"Sir?"

I looked up from the book in my lap blurry-eyed.

"We're about to close, you should probably wrap up what you're doing." Percy didn't recognise the girl; She had long brown hair braided boho-style, only without the feathers, and grey eyes that looked older. I glanced at her wrist, staring at a bunch of bracelets covering her date.

"Of course." I whispered, closing my book. She walked off, her grey blouse and red pants flickering back and forth almost like she was a ghost.

I slowly placed all the books back, trying to put them back in their originals homes. Then I started to walk out.

"Perseus."

I stiffened, my hand against the black steel of the door.

I turned slowly to see the grey eyed girl staring at me.

"You're smart, smarter than the rest of us thought. I wish you well on your journey." She smiled, then in a blink of my eye she was gone.

I stood there, blank minded and shocked.

Then I pushed the door open and started the bike again, heading to the only place I wanted to go.

Home.


	5. Chapter 5

I end up lost

Okay, yeah, laugh all you want, but for some reason everything seemed… different.

I didn't remember a Del Taco on Main St. Or that Books A Million down Pike Dr. The Town Hall had an expansion halfway through construction and at least three roads were down for pavement replacement.

I sailed past my old elementary school, which was currently being torn down. I almost slammed on the brakes when I realised this, doing a second drive by to make sure I wasn't imagining things.

That school, it was where my first fight was. This girl was picking on Piper, and I lunged over the slide and punched her. It was where my first kiss happened, in the gymnasium during 5th grade graduation. It wasn't romantic, it was more of a dare, but it still happened. Surkton Elementary school was where I use to do back flips over swing seats and cartwheels up and down the slides. It was where my fourth grade teacher single-handedly lead my class to the top of the district's student debate team, where we won against 11th graders over why the school shouldn't use the BMI scaling system in PE. It was where I would go into classes on days I was off from school and help my old teachers with putting the hyperactive kindergarteners down for nap time.

Now, it looked like a fire had started and engulfed the whole building, leaving only a shell behind. I didn't know what to think, I just sped out of the parking lot and back onto the country road.

I drove along until the horizon started to lighten. I thought my eyes were going crazy, there was no way I drove around for 8 hours even if Rome was a rather large town split down the middle by farms.

And there was no way my tank would still be full, but it was.

I pulled over next to a snowy farming field, which should have been filled with rows and rows of corn.

"How on Earth…" My breath fogged in front of me as I tapped the tank reader.

"It's magic."

I almost leapt out of my seat at the voice. I turned around, swinging my leg so I was standing between the bike and the road, staring at the teenager standing in the snow.

"Who the f-" I bit my lip, cutting the curseword off. "Who are you?"

The boy smiled like my reaction amused him. He was short, and I couldn't see much in the dark winter dawn, but I was sure he was wearing a tie-dye beanie over curly hair, a rusty orange shirt that read 'SGA Prep' in metallic gold block letters, a pair of fur pants, and a brown fleece jacket.

"I'm Grover." He looked up at me with brown eyes, almost curious. "Are you Perseus?"

I blinked. "Um…"

Grover waited patiently. I didn't know what to think.

"People call me Percy…" I said slowly. Grover nodded.

"Well if you prefer that-"

"How did you know my name?" I interrupted.

Grover paused. "I'm your saga."

"My… my what-now?"

Grover smiled a little more. "Saga, S-G-A."

I glanced back at his shirt. "And that means…"

"I'm like you guide, or tutor per se. I've been assigned to help you adjust."

"Adju- What are you talking about?"

Grover glanced at his wrist, like he had a watch there. "You should get going, you're late."

"Wait, late? Late for what?"

Grover saluted me, the sunlight washing onto his face. "Good luck." He turned and sprinted much faster than any human I've ever seen across the snowy field. For a moment, I thought I saw a piece of his pants stapled out like a tail on his back, and then he was gone.

"I'm going crazy." I mumbled. "First the silver girl, then the red pant lady, now this?"

I looked at the rising sun.

"Next thing I know, you're gonna float down from the sky and talk to me."

I waited, and for a moment that seemed fairly plausible. But nothing happened.

So I got back on my bike, and sped off down the salty road.

* * *

The next hour, I found myself at somewhere foreign but familiar.

I stopped in the middle of a traffic circle, staring wildly at the lawn of Mister Yanjo's preppy house.

Yanjo lived only a couple blocks down the street from where one of our garages - the same one I took the bike from.

I let out a small cheer of relief, before starting around the circle and down Grail Ave.

I pulled up to a garage that was rusty, the lawn next to it overgrown and filled with weeds.

My heart thumped loudly in my chest as I got off the vehicle.

 _Thump_

 _Thump_

Carefully, I took the helmet off, and started jogging down the street.

 _Thump_

 _Thump_

 _Thump_

I took a left down Breakneck Circle, counting my steps and listening to my heartbeat.

 _Thump_

 _Thump_

 _Thump_

 _Thump_

Before I knew it, I was standing outside of a baby blue two story house. The paint was dirty along the edges, the yard overgrown and littered with strangled flowers, a pile of papers at the door.

I weaved through the waist tall native grass, picking up one of the papers.

A letter addressed to Jason, a fat red stamp spelled 'FINAL WARNING' horizontally across the starchy white.

I bit my lip and ripped the top open, pulling the letter out.

"Dear Mister Grace," I mumbled swiftly and softly under my breath. "It has come to our attention that you are overdue drastically on your mortgage, and have until Jan…"

My voice died as I read the next two words over and over.

"January 1st, 2019… To pay or you will be evicted." I looked up at the pale white door, swallowing a lump in my throat.

The paper dropped from my hands and I picked up a random magazine - something about a prepaid card - and ripped the rectangle piece of plactic of the glue wad. In a couple swift motions, I slipped the card between the doorjam and door, shuffling it around until I felt the lock click inwards.

The foyer was dark and cold when I stepped inside. I didn't know the date, but judging by the boxes of stuff, it was sometime past January First.

"Please please please…" I walked over to the nearest box and ripped the tape off, opening it.

A picture frame with three pictures smiled back up at me - one of those smiles being myself.

I didn't take a second look. I carefully picked my way to the stairs and climbed up, entering the first room on the right in the hallway. The door shut behind me.

My room wasn't packed at all. Boxes were folded up in the corner, behind a basket like they were trying to hide. My bed was covered in dust, everything else looked like it hadn't seen the light of day since I left.

The clock's red light was blotchy from all the fuzz that collected on it. For a moment, I was afraid to check the date, I didn't want to know. Slowly, I took the hem of my shirt and rubbed the screen clean.

January 4th, 2019 08:19

"Jason…" I whispered softly. "You're an idiot."

I took couple of deep breaths, then pulled the bedsheets up so the bottom of the platform bed was exposed. Dust plumed into the air, caking everything it touched, as the blankets folding over themselves. I grabbed the only things wedged between the rails of the bedframe - a key and a crowbar, sliding them out from under the bed.

The next instant I was swinging the heavy duty crowbar into the plaster walling in my closet. The wall imploded on itself, and I propped the crowbar up against the opposing wall.

Gently dusting it off, I pulled a sleek silver metal box that looked like an oversized ring hold, about 1.5ft long by 1.5 ft wide by 1 ft tall. In a click, the key slid into the gold lock and it popped off with ease, opening the lid to reveal wads after wads of crisp Benji Franks.

Okay, sorry, but I'm not a drug dealer. When I was little, I started a candy selling business at school to save up money for my college. Silly, I know, at the time I didn't realise I was going to die so soon, but I had dreams. Then slowly that candy money turned into bet money, which turned into babysitting cash, to allowance, to even teachers paying me for being so nice as to helping. I got festival money, birthday money - both for my birthday and parents whom I've help for during others birthdays - and slowly my money stash grew to be about 250,000 dollars.

More than enough to pay off the mortgage.

A shout made my ears twitch. I realised with a gut churning thought that I had left the door wide open, with someone coming home to a break-in.

I dove to the desk and pulled out a notepad, jotting down a note. Footsteps pounded up the stairs.

"Percy, we need to leave." A voice said behind me.

I dropped the pen and turned around. "How did you-"

"We. Need. To. Leave." Grover stood between the door and I. The last footstep hit the hardwood floor and I knew the door would tear down.

One fist hit the door.

"Open up!" A husky female's voice said - Clarisse.

"Percy, we don't have time-"

"Clarisse will kill you if she saw you."

"The door won't open, I made sure." Grover's eyes weren't brown, they were a dark emerald green with a thin brown inner lining. His fur pants were well groomed and shiny, like they were real- "They are."

I blinked. "Excuse me?"

Clarisse banged on the door again. "I said open up to c-" Percy blocked out the curse.

"Percy, I'm your saga, your protector. Your Satyr."

I looked down past his fur pants only to see two oak-toned goat hooves.

"I… I don't-"

"I wasn't supposed to see you until you've adjusted, but you've figured-" His next words were drowned out from more banging and extra voices, but I understood what he meant.

"That girl… she can't just be a g-"

"Goddess. Yes, I'll explain everything, but we need to go."

I glanced at the door behind him. "Why can't they-"

"It's too risky, you haven't adjusted properly."

I thought for a moment. "Can I at least tell one of them."

Grover's face scanned over me, and for a moment I realised he was just as calm as I was - which was not at all.

"Not your family."

"No… I don't have any blood family, but she's just a friend."

"Only one, but we need to go now."

I looked at the table, then grabbed the metal box and key. I crumbled the note into my pocket, and Grover grabbed my hand.

In a flash of green light, the room evaporated from my view. The last thing I heard was an imaginary lock on my door clicking open.


	6. Chapter 6

I didn't know what to think or say.

Across from me, sitting on a metal chair in the outdoor eating area of a Dairy Queen, was a goat-man eating a can of Coke.

"So… the gods are real?"

"Yup." Grover said through a mouthful of aluminum.

"And each century each one picks one mortal to... success them?"

"In a way, and only the Olympians plus a few select gods." Grover confirmed.

"And… I'm one of those mortals? For a virgin goddess who typically oversees females?"

Grover swallowed his metal, blinking a little. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's it."

"But that makes no sense, why me?"

Grover put his can on the cold metal table. "You're death date matched perfectly with the death date Lady Artemis claimed as her sacred date."

"You mean my birthday." I corrected. "I died on my birthday."

"Well, died is a little extreme." Grover muttered. "It's more like… Limbo. You mortals call it Limbo."

"Like some weird state of time travel? Am I still 17 or am I 18 or what?"

Grover shrugged. "It really doesn't matter who old you are, you still went through the 16 month reset period."

I was sure by that point that this wasn't a dream. Even I couldn't dream of something this preposterous.

"It's not prepostero-"

"Don't read my mind." I sighed, stirring my now half-frozen cup of coffee. "The question is, how am I going to find someone who won't leak my existence to my adoptive family?"

Grover picked at his can. "You could just not tell?"

"And let Jason grieve himself into foreclosure? No thanks."

"He's already in foreclosure, Percy."

"Not if someone pays off the house. He can't just let that place go, that's been in his family for 3 generations, it was rebuilt twice. He's an idiot if he let's my rebellious death get in the way of his life."

Grover looked at me like he didn't know what to do with me, which was a common look I use to get from authoritative figures. I was a kid with an early death date, now I was a kid with no death date that I know of.

I glanced around the empty parking lot. The DQ was closed for the day, possibly the owners not wanting to have to deal with the snow that day. The only vehicle there was my motorcycle. My specific motorcycle that Grover found for me, the same one I wrecked when I was 15.

The only light on the street turned green, but there were no cars at the intersection.

"We use to do events on this street." I mused softly. "My foster mom use to take me when I was little, we'd walk up and down the vendors with a wad of cash and get things like toys, jewelery, even a dress one time. It's hard to believe this road holds Rome's largest festival, it's so… bare."

Grover stayed silent, listening while eating the last of his can.

"When she passed, Thalia took me back and we blew a couple hundred while Pi-"

I paused, sitting up straighter.

"Piper." I mumbled, then stood up so fast that my chair fell and skidded a good few feet back. "I can tell Piper, she's the only one who wouldn't spill!"

"How do you know that?" Grover looked up at me.

"Because she knew about Artemis. Well… sort of. I was having these repetitive dreams about this 10 year old girl with silver eyes right before I'd get into this crash, it was happening for months and Piper was the only one I told."

There was a moment where it was just the sound of snow.

"Please, it has to be Piper."

Grover sighed. "Fine, we'l-"

"No, me." I corrected. I felt slightly bad, but at the same time I didn't want Grover to be tugged into Piper's potential chokehold. "I'm going alone, you can wait for me at Starbucks."

Grover got up. "You don-"

"I do get a say in this." I folded my arms together, looking down at the shorter… satyr. "I'll make the most important oath that… Olympus makes…. Which one was that."

"The Styx."

"Yeah, I swear on the Styx, I'll meet you at Starbucks before sundown."

"Noon."

"I'll never make it out of their before noon, Piper would quarantine me."

Grover sighed. "Fine, sundown. But you do realise if you break this oath, bad things happen."

"Yeah yeah, whatever." Percy waved him off, starting to his motorcycle. "See you at sundown."

* * *

Piper's house looked the exact same as when he left it - three flamingos staked around the male box (one pink, one yellow, one blue), a Cherokee Nation's Flag hanging lazily where most of Rome's citizens would hang their American flags. The white lining of the house against the creamy orange-brown toned wood slabs of the walls and the dark brown of the shingles made Percy think of gingerbread houses and Christmas every time he saw it.

He started for the front door when his eyes caught something in the livingroom window.

The back of a tall person with a familiar build standing in front of someone. Blonde hair was overgrown and pinned back by a few bobby pins, and an all to noticeable tattoo peaking out from under his shirt.

Piper shifted a little and her eyes met mine. In a rush, I pressed my fingers to my lips and darted to the garage, out of sight.

The front door opened a moment later. "Are you sure it was just a squirrel?" Jason's voice sounded a little older, a little more tired.

"Yeah Jay, it was carrying a flag like it was stealing from someone."

"... Are you sure?"

My foot met the snow on the other side of the garage. I carefully wedged my foot under the cool snow and shuffled my way up to the wall facing away from the road.

"You need to get some rest, tell Thals and Annie I said hi."

Jason let out a sigh. "I will, but I don't have much time to rest. Luke wants us to go down and see him at base about 50 minutes down the highway, and with Thalia's broken hand and Annabeth's car sickness, I'm the only one driving."

My stomach fell. Annabeth, how could I have forgotten about Luke and Annabeth?

"I'm sure you'll be able to, maybe he could help out with the… situation."

Jason let out a guilty moan. "Yeah, about that… it got worse."

"...What do you mean?"

"Someone broke in. I didn't setup the alarm system because… well, it's packed, and they destroyed a closest wall looking for something."

"They didn't take anything? That's odd." Piper whispered.

"It's even stranger at the fact it was in…" Jason paused. "In Percy's closet."

For one breath fogging moment, a scenario flashed across my mind: "I just saw Percy, he's behind the garage!"

Piper just let out a gasp, like she was shocked. "Oh god, are you serious? That is odd."

"Yeah, but for now that's the bank's problem. They can deal with the damages for all I care, I'd rather not go back into that bedroom, not after what… what happened."

"You should really get going, you look like you're going to pass out and the last thing we need is you trying to cuddle with snow."

The next minute, Percy caught sight of tail lights glowing against the snow, then the sound of tires pressing against the road as a car drove off.

A moment passed. "... Percy?"

Piper's face moved into view, at the other end of the garage. Percy let out a small smile.

"Oh… Oh my god… I thought…"

"Hey Pipes… we need to talk."


End file.
